Tiger Woods Will Skip Bay Hill, Still Hopes to Play Masters

PALM HARBOR, Fla. -- The news that Tiger Woods will skip next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill hit different players in different ways.

Many were still trying to figure out what to make of it.

“I’m worried about him,” said Will MacKenzie, who was 1 under par (69-72) and certain to make the cut at the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook, where Brendon de Jonge (67-69) was leading at 6 under.

MacKenzie continued: “I’m worried about his body. He’s a year younger than me, and I know what I feel. He’s really beat up. Swinging with a bad knee is one thing, but you never know when a bad back is going to give out through the ball. Think about how hard he swings with the driver.”

“I’m not surprised,” said Stewart Cink (69-73), who also will easily make the cut at the Valspar. “It just seemed like, from reading his earlier announcement, this wasn’t ever going to be a short, three- or four-week break. He’ll come back when he’s ready. There’s nothing for us to worry about. We just hope his spirit’s okay and he’s not too down.”

Woods’ absence next week will be especially glaring, given his eight Tour wins at Bay Hill, which is tied with Sam Snead for the most victories in a single event. Snead won a Tour event at 52 (he’s the oldest to do so) and made the cut at the 1973 U.S. Open at 61 (again, the oldest to do so).

At just 39, Woods is inviting questions as to whether he’ll ever win again. He hasn’t played since he withdrew with back pain during the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines last month, a setback that was followed by his statement that his latest injury was not related to his 2014 surgery, that his level of play was unacceptable, and that he would be returning to the Tour only when he deemed his game ready.

“I spoke to Arnold today and told him that I will not play in his tournament this year. I’m sorry I won’t be in Orlando next week,” Woods wrote in a short note posted to his website Friday afternoon. “I’ve put in a lot of time and work on my game and I’m making strides, but like I've said, I won't return to the PGA Tour until my game is tournament ready and I can compete at the highest level. I hope to be ready for the Masters, and I will continue to work hard preparing for Augusta.”

Tiger Woods at the 2015 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

Robert Beck/Sports Illustrated

Back in 2011 Greg Norman predicted a scandal-tainted Woods would never win another major. It seemed like a bold prediction then, and when Woods won a total of eight Tour events in 2012 and 2013, returning to the No. 1 ranking, it seemed as if he might soon prove Norman wrong.

Today, Woods, still at 14 majors, has fallen to 79th in the world. His statement Friday comes as he tries to atone for a grim 2014 in which back surgery kept him out of two majors and seemed to affect him at the British Open and PGA Championship. Woods also is trying to piece together a new swing under new instructor Chris Como, and battling chipping problems that surfaced again as Woods shot a second-round 82 and missed the cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in January, his first start of the year.

Bay Hill is traditionally the final start Woods makes before the Masters in early April, which puts his attendance at Augusta in doubt. He did not play in the Masters last year after undergoing surgery on his back. It was the first time he had missed the event in his professional career, and the first time since 1995 that he was not in the field at Augusta.

Tiger Woods hasn't always been the smooth-talking and finely dressed golfer you see on your television each week. Join us as we take a look back at a time before Tiger Woods was cool.

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In 1978, he demonstrated his golf skills in a television appearance on The Mike Douglas Show.

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Woods grew up in Southern California and began playing almost as soon as he could walk.

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His father, Earl, introduced him to the game by age 2.

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Earl Woods, who played baseball at Kansas State, giving Tiger a trim.

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Woods sharing a birthday with his father.

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Tiger Woods and his instructor, Rudy Duran.

Courtesy of Rudy Duran

Tiger Woods at the 1995 Masters. He was 19 and on the Stanford golf team, having earned his trip to Augusta National by winning the 1994 U.S. Amateur.

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Woods on the putting green.

EA Sports

The new Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 video game allowed gamers to play as Tiger at different ages. The scenes from his childhood were inspired in part by these images, which were released by EA Sports.

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Where it all started: Tiger Woods hits his first tee shot in a PGA Tour event at the first hole of Riviera Country Club at the 1992 Los Angeles Open.

ROBERT BECK/SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

Tiger Woods prepping for a photo shoot.

LYNN JOHNSON

Recognize this move? Tiger had already mastered his watching-his-putt-go-in pose as a 16-year-old at the 1992 Los Angeles Open at Riviera Country Club.

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Check out these photos of Tiger Woods at the 1992 and 1993 L.A. Opens, when golf's coolest cat was still an awkward teenager. There's a reason his nickname used to be "Urkel."

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Tiger holds his finish at the 1992 Los Angeles Open. After missing the cut, he wouldn't play another PGA Tour event until the L.A. Open next year.

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Tiger Woods poses in Sports Illustrated.

Gerard Rancinan/SI

Fortunately, Tiger later decided to go with red on Sundays instead of a graphic-print shirt.

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Roger Federer poses with his 2006 U.S. Open trophy after defeating Andy Roddick while Tiger looks on

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Woods at the 1993 Los Angeles Open, his second professional event.

GARY NEWKIRK/ALLSPORT

Tiger hitting an iron shot.

V.J. Lovero

Tiger Woods holding the trophy after winning the 1994 U.S. Amateur Championship at TPC at Sawgrass, Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra, Fla., August 1994.

USGA

Woods reads a putt at the 1993 L.A. Open with a familiar-looking intensity. He has not played the Los Angeles Open since he pulled out with the flu after 36 holes in 2006.

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Tiger also had his hold-the-putter-with-one-hand move perfected as a teenager, seen here at the 1993 L.A. Open.

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Back in 1993, Tiger Woods needed an ID to get into a golf tournament. (Check out the badge on his belt.)

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Tiger Woods drinking a milkshake.

JOHN M. BURGESS

Tiger hits a bunker shot at the 1993 L.A. Open. Woods has played the event 11 times and has never won there. It's the most times he has played a tournament without a win.

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Tiger Woods poses in SI.

Michael ONeill/SI

Tiger shot 78-74 to miss the cut at the 1993 L.A. Open. Tiger made his first cut in a professional event at age 18 at the 1994 Johnnie Walker Asian Classic in Thailand.

GARY NEWKIRK/ALLSPORTS

San Diego Junior Golf Association

Woods sticks out his tongue Michael Jordan-style as he watches a wedge shot at the 1993 L.A. Open.

GARY NEWKIRK/ALLSPORTS

Tiger Woods Before He Was Cool

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Woods has won the Masters four times, most recently in 2005.

There are only two Tour stops between Bay Hill and the Masters: the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio on March 26-29, and the Shell Houston Open in Humble, Texas, April 2-5. Woods traditionally hasn’t played in either of them, and it seems unlikely he will start now.

What should we expect going forward? Where is he with his new swing? Has he solved his chipping problems? Is he taking next week off because his game is still a mess or his body is still a mess? Or is it both? How much is he really practicing?

"I spent quite a bit of time the last couple of weeks down at Tiger’s house, trying to be a good running mate and going through workouts and practicing with him," said Notah Begay, Woods' longtime friend and former college teammate. "I can attest to the fact that things are improving and that he is putting in some solid workdays. It is just not at the status that he wants it."

The last time Woods parachuted into Augusta without having played a Tour event all year was 2010, when he returned from his sex scandal.